


let my right hand wither and turn to dust

by displayheartcode



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst and Drama, F/F, Friends to Lovers to Enemies, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/displayheartcode/pseuds/displayheartcode
Summary: Five dreams Andy and Quynh have of each other.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Comments: 12
Kudos: 104





	let my right hand wither and turn to dust

**i.**

Andromache sees a dark-eyed woman walking barefoot in a forest, the moonlight tangled in her bloodied hair. She clutches a broken arrowhead in one hand, her heavy breathing turns shallow as her wounds begin to disappear with each step.

She tries to follow this strange woman in her dream. Andromache reaches out for the connection that has them tied together; an unshakable bond immediately forms as their eyes meet under the shadow of a large tree. She’s not in either space, the land of the living or in dreams, but their fingers brush together.

The woman’s mouth moves in a question, the language unknown.

The phantom touch lingers with Andromache as she wakes.

**ii.**

Quynh dreams of a woman on horseback, her strong thighs guiding the animal as she holds her ax in the air with a bellowing cry.

It’s like she’s dying all over again in the forest, the arrow yanked from her stomach as she stumbles back to her feet. She can feel the whisper of the wind through the trees at night, but also the hot sun and the taste of an oncoming storm.

The horse gallops by and Quynh reaches for her, this warrior carved from metal and sunlight. There is no hesitation as they find each other across a barren plain. 

**iii.**

When she sleeps, she sees a recent memory. They’re dancing around a bonfire, the flames reflecting against Quynh’s face, her expression blazing. The ends of her long hair shimmer with light that traces her soft jaw and mouth.

Andromache is breathless when she wakes up. 

**iv.**

There is nothing but water, water everywhere, and her screams are swallowed up by the waves.

She lives. The air is gone. She dies. Her blood mixes with the water, her lungs tear to shreds before painfully knitting back together again. She lives. There is nothing down here to help her, nothing above that can save her. She dies. _Alone_.

Always alone. 

The cycle is endless.

Only darkness greets her in the madness of dreams.

**v.**

Every version of this has taken place on a boat or the rocky remains of a beach, hands clasped together, cries of relief and amazement that despite everything they have been able—that they could—

But this is not a dream.

“No,” she says because that is all there is left of her to say. Training is the only reason why Andy can’t lower her borrowed sword. She can't breathe. Can't think. Only the vaguest hope that she'll wake up. 

Quynh presses her sharp knife against the side of Andy’s neck. Her sea-mad eyes widen when the wound doesn’t heal. “Hello, lover. It’s about time you found me.”


End file.
